Shawnee man charged with murder in stepfather's death

A Shawnee man is now charged with murder in the first degree, deliberate intent, for the stabbing death of his stepfather earlier this month.

Kim Morava

A Shawnee man is now charged with murder in the first degree, deliberate intent, for the stabbing death of his stepfather earlier this month.

Joseph Michael Neay, 22, was charged Monday in Pottawatomie County District Courts.

He is accused of unlawfully, and with malice aforethought, causing the death of Marty Lee Jones by stabbing him with a knife, charges read.

Jones, 45, was found dead Nov. 2 in his home, 709 E. 11th, and Neay was arrested in the case later that afternoon.

Police said a postal carrier delivering mail reported smoke coming from the house just before 10 a.m. that Friday. Shawnee firefighters responded to battle that blaze, where they found Jones dead in the kitchen.

According to the arrest warrant in this case, the body was found in a pool of blood in the kitchen, but evidence suggested a struggle in the home started in a back bedroom.

Police began probing the case, which included researching a report that Jones' wife had made the weekend before for domestic abuse. Police called her and learned she was at her mother's residence in Dallas, the warrant shows, but she told them she has a son, Joseph Neay, and told officers he lives at an apartment in the area of 11th and Pennsylvania.

Police went there and found bloody fingerprints on a banister, so Neay was detained and later questioned. During that interview, the warrant shows Neay admitted walking to the home to confront Marty Jones about assaulting his mother. He allegedly told detectives he walked into the front door and that he and Jones began fighting in the bedroom.

"Neay advised that he took a knife from Marty and began cutting and stabbing Marty," the warrant shows. "Neay stated the fight ended in the kitchen where Marty fell face down on the floor."

According to the warrant, Neay allegedly told detectives he stabbed Jones a few more times on the floor.

"Neay stated that he took his sweat shirt off and placed it and some bed sheets on top of Marty and then ignited them with a lighter," according to the affidavit.

Neay then left the scene of foot and allegedly threw the knife in a creek, the warrant shows. Neay took officers to the location of the knife, where it was recovered, the warrant shows.

Neay was arrested that afternoon on murder and arson complaints and has since been jailed without bond in the Pottawatomie County Public Safety Center.

At the onset of the investigation, police said the motive was likely a domestic-related issue between the stepfather and stepson.

According to court records, Jones' wife had filed an emergency protective order against Marty Jones on Oct. 29 and that order was served on Nov. 1.

The state medical examiner concluded the cause of death for Jones was multiple sharp force injuries.

Funeral services for Jones were held in Kentucky, where he was born and raised and his mother, Mary Conner, still resides. Jones also leaves behind two children, ages 12 and 9, who live with their mother in Prague, Conner said.

If convicted in the murder case, Neay could face the death penalty, imprisonment for life or imprisonment for life without parole.